Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a virtual endoscopic image display apparatus, method and program that generates, based on a three-dimensional image of a subject to be examined, a virtual endoscopic image by a virtual endoscope, simulating imaging performed by an endoscope, and displays the virtual endoscopic image.
Description of the Related Art
In recent years, a tubular tissue, such as a large intestine, a small intestine, a bronchus and a blood vessel, of a patient is extracted from a three-dimensional image imaged by a modality, such as a CT (Computed Tomography) apparatus, and a three-dimensional image of the extracted tubular tissue is used in diagnosis based on images.
For example, the following technique has been proposed in colonography of the large intestine. A path of an endoscope that passes through the inside of the large intestine region is determined based on a three-dimensional image of the large intestine region. While a viewpoint is moved along the determined path, a virtual endoscopic image resembling an image actually imaged from the viewpoint by the endoscope is generated. A path to a target point is navigated by displaying this virtual endoscopic image.